URBN Hotels Shanghai, a design-led boutique property in the Chinese city, is offering a free room upgrade for bookings made by February 15.

Guests who place a booking for a standard studio room package at a price of RMB1,400 (US$225) nett will be upgraded to a garden view room, with a complimentary bottle of red wine thrown in to sweeten the deal.

The package also includes an a la carte breakfast for two, access to URBN Lounge with complimentary drinks and tapas from 17.00 to 19.00, and free Wi-Fi access in the guestroom.

Contact reservations@urbnhotels.com.

IN A statement to the press today, Brisbane Marketing has declared the Queensland capital well and back in action.

According to lord mayor of Brisbane Graham Quirk, the city has weathered the weekend storms well and the business district is open.

Quirk said: “The airport is open, roads and trains into the CBD are open and running, and the business and retail centres are trading as usual. All hotels, events and attractions are open.”

“While some suburbs are still experiencing power and water difficulties, the clean-up and repairs are well underway. Most of Brisbane is well and truly back on its feet and the business district is fully operational,” he emphasised.

Quirk said he was proud of the resilience of the city.

“There is no reason for people planning to travel to Brisbane for business, holidays or study to change those plans, the sun is out and we’re ready to welcome you.”

He acknowledged that the city was “more fortunate than many country areas” and added that he would help to “provide support to harder-hit surrounding areas” in his capacity as Chair of the South East Queensland councils.

TEN more individuals have joined Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s (MyCEB) successful Kesatria 1Malaysia ambassador programme to help bring the country closer to its long-term target of growing business tourism arrivals from the current five per cent to eight per cent by 2020.

Launched in 2012, the programme started off with 17 kesatrias (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 2, 2012) or knights in the Malay language. Since then, it garnered some 22 conference leads, translating to at least 46,000 delegate arrivals and RM552 million (US$177.7 million) in economic benefits for the country.

The newly knighted appointees come from various key economic sectors, including science and medicine, research and innovation, education and law.

Mary Easaw, new to Kesatria 1Malaysia, is the chief dietician, dietetic & food services at the National Heart Institute and country representative of the American Overseas Dietetic Association. She said: “With MyCEB’s support, we hope to bid for the Asia Congress of Dietetics 2016 or 2017 to be held in Malaysia. It will be so affordable and convenient for local nutritionists and dieticians to attend, gain knowledge and present their findings. It will be a great avenue to nurture personal and professional development, skills and competencies.”

Zilfalil Alwi, a kesatria for the past one year and head of the Malaysia Node of Human Variome Project, said: “With experience (gained from) the successful bid for the Human Genome Meeting 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, I shared pointers with other associations on how they can get support from MyCEB to bid for international meetings and conferences.

“I am also encouraging them to appoint a professional conference organiser. From my past experience, (manage the conference myself) can be very stressful and taxing.”

SHERATON Mirage Port Douglas on the Four Mile Beach in North Queensland is offering meeting planners 15 per cent off food and beverage and complimentary high-speed Internet access in the meeting room.

Bookings must be made and held by June 30 this year.

In addition, planners who confirm their meetings by February 15 will receive double Starpoints.

The hotel has 11 meeting venues, the largest being the Mirage Grand Ballroom which can seat up to 1,000 guests theatre-style.

MALAYSIA and the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre have been chosen to host the 16^th Asian Congress of Architects (ACA) 2014, a regional event that is held once every two years.

The six-day congress, which will be attended by professionals and students from member countries of the Architects Regional Council of Asia, is expected to yield more than RM21.7 million (US$7.1 million) in economic impact for the country and RM13.1 million through visitor expenditure.

The congress aims to take Asian architects around the region where they will gain in-depth exposure to architectural environments of member countries. The event coincides with the Malaysian Institute of Architects’ (PAM) Annual Meeting which deliberates and presents collective directions of the region’s architectural industry.

Malaysia last hosted the Asian Congress of Architects in 1984 and 2000, which according to Saifuddin bin Ahmad, president of PAM, collectively brought 800 delegates into the country.

Saifuddin said: “We hope to significantly increase the number (of delegates) to 3,000 for ACA 2014, with 40 per cent being international attendees. This will serve as the perfect platform for us to show our members the architectural developments in our country and lift the standards of our local architectural society.”

The last ACA was held in Bali, Indonesia.

GlobalStar Travel Management will hold its 11^th annual global conference at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa in Kuala Lumpur this March 11-13.

Themed Transform – Inform – Perform, the event would be attended by the company’s new partners and focus on new business development initiatives, said GlobalStar president Steve Hartwell.

GlobalStar has also engaged Sunway Travel – a sister company of Sunway International Hotels & Resort, both part of the massive Sunway Group that has businesses in sectors such as healthcare and construction – for the organisation of the conference.

Sunway Travel COO, Jeremiah Lim expects some 150 delegates from more than 75 countries worldwide to travel to Kuala Lumpur for this event.

Prince Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong has completed its refurbishment programme, arming it with updated guestrooms, suites and club lounge as well as other new guest facilities.

All 393 guestrooms and suites have been given new carpets, curtains, upholstery and art pieces, while some are equipped with spacious shower facilities.

The Continental Club Lounge also promises improved guest experience.

New additions to the hotel include a gym with state-of-the-art exercise machines and fitness equipment, and complimentary Wi-Fi.

These improvements follow Prince Hotel’s May 2012 launch of a new all-day dining establishment, add@Prince.

THE Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has linked arms with eight key government and private organisations in Chiang Mai to develop a framework to further raise the city’s profile as a MICE destination.

The five-year Chiang Mai MICE Destination master plan will be rolled out in three parts.

The first phase will be implemented throughout 2013, focusing on the development of the domestic MICE segment as well as infrastructure improvements. MICE education campaigns will also be introduced.

In the second phase, from 2014 to 2015, destination promotions will focus on regional cooperation blocks, such as the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Finally, in 2016 and 2017, efforts will be made to promote Chiang Mai as a global MICE city, one which is capable of hosting international mega events.

According to a press statement from TCEB, the framework will be submitted to the Cabinet for acknowledgement.

Thanin Supasaen, Chiang Mai governor, said, “Despite (Chiang Mai’s) huge economic potential, most people only know it as a cultural destination. As a result, the province’s economy relies on the travel season. A concrete master plan and clear strategy to make Chiang Mai a MICE destination will encourage development in all areas and generate greater income for business operators and the locals throughout the year.”

Narong Kongprasert, president of the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce, believes that the “rapid development of regional cooperation framework” such as ASEAN and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation will lift demand for business events in member countries, benefiting Chiang Mai which sits “in the centre of the region”.

The development of the Chiang Mai MICE Destination master plan is recognised as a “significant strategic move for the country” by Thongchai Sridama, acting TCEB president.

He said: “Lessons learned from other countries show that the success of a MICE city is driven by its people and administration, and with the support of the central government. So, Chiang Mai is on the right track.”

Today, Chiang Mai has more than 33,000 hotel rooms and its international airport is Thailand’s third largest, after Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang in Bangkok.

In 2012, the total value of Chiang Mai’s MICE industry reached 3.9 billion baht (US$129.7 million). Of this amount, 3.8 billion baht was contributed by 46,826 foreign MICE travellers.